Parents of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi may sue university over son’s suicide

The parents of Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide after his roommate and another student allegedly broadcast online an intimate encounter with another man, have notified the school they may sue the university.

On Sept. 22, just days after the video was broadcast, Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. He was 18 years old.

Tyler’s parents, Joseph and Jane Clementi of Ridgewood, N.J., filed a legal notice on Friday, an action that puts Rutgers on notice that the Clementi family may seek damages for Tyler’s suicide.

“Subject to further investigation, it appears that Rutgers University failed to act, failed to put in place and/or failed to implement, and enforce policies and practices that would have prevented or deterred such acts, and that Rutgers failed to act timely and appropriately,” the notice said.

Rutgers spokesman E.J. Miranda said the university sympathizes with the family but is not responsible for the freshman’s death.

“We at the university share the family’s sense of loss of their son, who was a member of our community,” Rutgers said in a statement acknowledging receipt of the notice.

“We also recognize that a grieving family may question whether someone or some institution could somehow have responsibility for their son’s death. While the university understands this reaction, (Rutgers) is not responsible for Tyler Clementi’s suicide.”

Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei have been charged with invasion of privacy, and have since dropped out of Rutgers University.